Some platforms are good for engagement. Others are better for reaching as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. As an independent artist, it’s important to understand how each platform can best benefit your marketing strategy as a whole. That means balancing your efforts accordingly. In this edition of our Marketing Journey series, we’ll show you how to do this by breaking down the benefits of some of the most popular sites artists can use to their advantage today. Here’s the rundown…
Marketing Journey for the Music Industry Part 5: Social Media Marketing
When it comes to successfully marketing your music, never put all your eggs in one basket! Everyone is different, and although it’s not a bad idea to put a heavier focus on one platform, you should always make sure every part of your marketing arsenal is sufficiently fueled. Whatever platform you choose as your main squeeze, it should do a good job of subsequently redirecting your viewers across all your channels and vice versa.
Now, the real challenge is figuring out which platforms should lead the way and which should take a back seat.
Here’s what we know…
Especially for artists, Instagram has the best engagement rates of all the platforms. The ability to post photos, as well as video, is a plus for anyone looking to post content from their shows, behind-the-scenes footage, user-generated content, and more. In addition, hashtags work wonders for targeting specific audiences, and your bio offers a perfect home base to redirect your fans to all your other socials, merch, tickets, and so much more.
To help you out, we’ve written a couple posts on optimizing your efforts on the platform. Check those out below:
- How The Instagram Algorithm Works
- How To Use Instagram Reels and Stories To Reach More Fans
- How To Create An Instagram Sales Funnel
TikTok
It’s no secret that musicians all over the world have gained major exposure from a single video’s success on TikTok. It definitely offers major potential to blow up underground independents overnight. HOWEVER, don’t rely on this to happen to you. Although it is technically possible, that shouldn’t be your main goal on the platform. TikTok offers many other benefits that are more suited to a realistic game plan for your marketing strategy.
Studies have shown that this platform works best as a supportive part of your strategy. On TikTok, the best thing you can do is find your niche and interact with them as often as possible. Because of its short-form focus, sharing news, snippets of new songs, or starting trends with your community, works best on this platform. Then, relaying this content onto other platforms is a quick click away.
Make sure your TikTok skills are in tip-top shape with these helpful resources:
- How to Get More Views on TikTok as a Musician
- How To Boost Your Engagement On TikTok
- Best TikTok Hashtag Strategy for Musicians
- How to Figure Out The Best Time to Post on TikTok
YouTube
YouTube is an OG, massive driver for music discovery. You should be using this platform to create deeper connections with your fans by having two-way conversations on your channel and interacting as much as possible. You should also be doing things like pinning comments that start meaningful conversations to the top of the comment section, liking and disliking comments, replying as much as you can, and sharing fan-uploaded content.
As opposed to paid advertising, organic marketing on YouTube doesn’t break the bank. That means making your channel look professional, ensuring it has all the appropriate links, optimizing the little details, and everything else you can do behind the scenes is all you need to make sure your videos are performing the best they can.
(This post gives you everything you need to know about organic marketing on YouTube.)
For many of us, when we think of anything regarding video marketing the first thing that comes to mind is YouTube. The fact of the matter is, we’d be wrong to think that. 81% of businesses actually prefer to use Facebook for their video marketing. With Facebook video content getting 8 BILLION views per day, you can’t ignore its value.
On Facebook, you can curate and schedule high-quality, unique, personal content; photos, videos, live events, behind-the-scenes experiences, and repost user-generated-content. All of which helps you connect with your audience and share more than ever. To make sure those who visit your page are always up to date, pin the most crucial post to the top of your feed, and make sure all your tabs are well organized and updated.
Now, what do you do with all this information?
Now that you know the value of each of these platforms, you can judge for yourself which could offer you the most traction. How? Analytics.
You have to utilize your analytics on each platform to see where you have the largest following, as well as where your fans interact with you the most. Wherever you have the most eyes is a perfect place for show announcements. Wherever you have the most engagement should be used for pushing sales and interacting one-on-one. Although all platforms offer value, only you know what your strategy needs.
By diving into how you’re performing on each of these already, you can see which areas need the most help. Need a little extra help? Check these out:
- Where To Find Detailed Analytics for TikTok
- Understanding YouTube’s New Analytics
- Best Streaming Analytics Tools for Artists
In Conclusion…
At the end of the day, all the platforms you use should be connected. Your bio’s on each platform should provide links to the others, as well your Spotify, SoundCloud, and anywhere else you have your work. With the power of all of these combined into a single strategy, you’ve got an arsenal that can’t be beat.
Good luck!
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